Hawaii's Mana Foods is known for supporting local businesses. Purchasing Director Marie DeJournette offers three quick tips to show you how to beef up your local products.
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- Make it easy.
While many stores require products to have UPC codes, Mana will price items manually when a company can’t afford a UPC. The store also doesn’t make producers fill out a lot of paperwork. If a new product passes a taste test and has clean ingredients and good sourcing, Mana makes it available to customers.
- Price to sell.
Mana’s goal is to make clean, healthy food as affordable as possible. The store passes on 100 percent of manufacturer discounts to customers.
- Create space.
Mana’s narrow aisles are packed from floor to ceiling, and rarely is a product double-faced. “Our customers don’t mind digging for things,” DeJournette said. “If they have to work to get items from the shelves, they’ll do it. It’s really fun to shop here and find new products.”
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